TEHRAN- The Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government must take full responsibility for battling terrorist and apartheid organizations operating in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

In a meeting with Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji on Saturday in Tehran, Amir-Abdollahian stated, “Given good relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq, we do not expect the territory of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to be a place for terrorist acts and threats against Iran.”

Iran has always backed a prosperous Iraqi government and country, as well as a developed, free, and independent Iraq, he said.

The top diplomat went on to add that “Iran, however, will not tolerate the continuation of the armed terrorists' presence in the Kurdistan Region and their moves against Iran's security.”

Amir Abdollahian pointed out that Tehran and Baghdad have expanding strategic ties in all areas and emphasized the significance of strengthening bilateral security cooperation, particularly the fight against armed terrorists operating in Iraq's Kurdistan.
The foreign minister added, "We see the security of Iraq as the security of Iran."

For his part, al-Araji said the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government will unquestionably respond to any attempt to undermine Iran's security.

Al-Araji headed a high-ranking security delegation to Iran.

Based on the Iraqi constitution, no person or group is permitted to take any action that compromises the neighbors' security.

Recent military operations by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) against anti-Iranian terrorist sites in Iraq's Kurdistan region were discovered to have contributed to violent riots across Iran.

During a phone chat with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein last week, the Iranian foreign minister also stated that the Islamic Republic will not put up with more action against itself by terrorist organizations headquartered in the Arab nation.

“We will not tolerate the continuation of aggression and terrorist acts by groups that have taken refuge in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and targeted Iran's national security,” Amir Abdollahian underscored. 

“Foreign military in Caucasus is shared worry”

Also, during a phone conversation with his Azeri counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov late on Saturday, Amir Abdollahian examined the most crucial bilateral, regional, and global concerns. 

“Amir Abdollahian says presence of foreign military in Caucasus is shared worry among regional governments,” he pointed out.

Iran’s foreign minister also described the presence of foreign forces in the Caucasus as a source of concern for the governments in the region, underling Iran's opposition to the stationing of any foreign military there.

He praised the recent summit between the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia's 6th Summit (CICA) in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.

He emphasized the need to uphold other countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity, namely those of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and defined this as Iran's ongoing policy in reference to recent events in the Caucasus.

For his part, Bayramov praised bilateral relations. He also supported Iran's position on this issue and expressed his objection to the deployment of Western military in the region.